Press Release Summary = A new year is upon us and with that comes new opportunities
for small business owners everywhere. What new technologies will your business
embrace this year? What new partnerships will you form? How will you take advantage
of the changing marketplace?
Press Release Body = January 23, 2007 (Toronto, CA) -- A new year is upon us and
with that comes new opportunities for small business owners everywhere. What new
technologies will your business embrace this year? What new partnerships will you
form? How will you take advantage of the changing marketplace?
In answering these questions, entrepreneurship expert Evan Carmichael suggests the
importance of examining the rising trends that are promising to impact small
business in the coming year. “The beginning of a new year is a good opportunity for
entrepreneurs to revive their drive for success and give their business a fresh
start,” says Carmichael, “but in order to move forward, they need to look ahead at
what is to come.”
Top on Carmichael’s list of small
business trends for 2007 is the continued rise in
importance of being able to do anything and everything online. “Small businesses
today can’t just have a one-page website,” he says. “The division between IT and
business is shrinking. From e-marketing to selling products online to offering
podcasts, small business owners need to embrace everything the Internet has to
offer.”
A glimpse at the number of users on FeedBurner’s website – an online news feed
management provider – is evidence of Carmichael’s point. Today, FeedBurner tracks
over 1.6 million podcast subscribers, a figure that has doubled in the past six
months alone. Similarly, a 2006 PEW Internet Project report states that 12 percent
of Internet users have downloaded a podcast. “This year,” says Carmichael, “small
business owners need to seriously explore these various types of online tools as
means of better reaching their customers.”
A second trend that will affect small business this year, says Carmichael, is the
focus on everything ‘green’. “Consumers are starting to demand more from those they
do business with,” he says. “Whether it’s behaving in a more sustainable way,
supporting environmental causes, or offering green products, small business owners
can take advantage of this growing concern.”
Venture
capitalists are beginning to pick up on this trend, where in
the U.S. they
invested over $150 million in green-focused startups in 2005, double the amount of
the previous year. A study by the Organic Trade Association shows similar growth: in
2005, consumer sales of nonfood organic products in the U.S. totaled $744 million.
“Instead of being encouraged by their customers to become more
environmentally-friendly,” says Carmichael, “small business owners can take the lead
and inspire their consumers.”
Finally, Carmichael points to the rising trend of entrepreneurs that come from all
walks of life to try their hand in business. “Whether they’re students trying to pay
their way through college, or seniors who are bored with retirement, more and more
people are realizing that it’s never too early or too late to start a business,”
says Carmichael. “A single mother who has her own company, for example, is no longer
the anomaly it once was.”
A recent study by the U.S. Center for Women’s Business confirms Carmichael’s point.
The research found that one in eleven adult women is an entrepreneur, the majority
of who are mothers. Similarly, 30 percent of the entrepreneurs who use the services
of the Center for Women & Enterprise are single mothers.
“The new year has just begun,” says Carmichael. “Now is the time to plan for the
next big thing. Pay attention to the trends and ensure your small business doesn’t
get left behind.”
##
Evan Carmichael is available for an interview. Please contact him at
evan@evancarmichael.com.
Evan is an entrepreneur and international speaker. At the age of 19, he became an
owner and Chief Operating Officer in Redasoft, a biotechnology software company. The
company quickly grew to over 300 organizations as clients, including NASA and
Johnson & Johnson, in 30 countries. He started Evan Carmichael & Associates with the
goal to give entrepreneurs the Inspiration to follow their passion and the
strategies they need to succeed. Evan has delivered over 100 keynote presentations
to entrepreneurs in North America, Europe, and Asia. He has been interviewed by
newspapers, radio stations, and television stations including The Globe and Mail,
CHUM FM, CityTV, Global TV, OMNI TV, Enterprise, and the Toronto Sun. Evan\'s
website, Web Site = http://www.evancarmichael.com
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